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Elizabeth Prewitt Taylor Library

The Elizabeth Prewitt Taylor Library at the Arkansas Arts Center is a non-circulating research library. Established in 1963, the library is the primary center for the history and documentation of art in the state. Library services are available to the Arts Center's staff, docent volunteers, members and the public.

LIBRARY HOURS

Friday and Saturday, 12 p.m. – 5 p.m., and by appointment.To schedule an appointment for the library, please call 501-396-0367.

COLLECTIONS

The Library collections include materials on art criticism and art history. Through the generosity of the Central Arkansas Library System, our card catalog is available online. The collections are accessible through the online catalog and with library staff assistance.

SEARCH THE CATALOG

You can search the Arkansas Arts Center's Library holdings online as a result of our partnership with the Central Arkansas Library System. Your search will also show holdings of all the Central Arkansas Library System branches. Arts Center library holdings are continually being added. The online catalog includes the book and periodical collections.

Remember that the Taylor Library does not lend out its holdings. You may visit the library during its public hours to use its resources.

BOOKS

Over 5,000 volumes of dictionaries, indexes, monographs, catalogs raisonnés, and exhibition catalogs. These can be accessed through the Central Arkansas Library System online catalog.

AUCTION CATALOGS

HISTORY OF THE LIBRARY

The Arkansas Arts Center Elizabeth Prewitt Taylor Library was established in 1963. It was named in honor of Elizabeth Prewitt Taylor, a Little Rock native and former national president of the Junior League. Taylor is widely credited as the guiding force behind the founding and location of the Museum of Fine Arts and with encouraging early Junior League involvement in museum programs.

The library received an initial boost from Charles Taylor, Taylor's brother, who sought permission to name the library after his sister in recognition of her commitment to the arts. He also made a significant founding donation for the acquisition of books. The Junior League of Little Rock donated the first 200 volumes to the library and established an early purchase fund. Initially run by volunteer staff, the library had its first paid librarian in 1967, a position held for a number of years by the late Evelyn McCoy. In the intervening years, the library benefited from the management of volunteer Betty Lane and a dedicated crew of library volunteers. In 2000 a paid part-time librarian joined the Arts Center staff.

Today, the library has over 5,000 volumes and numerous periodical titles. More volumes are regularly added. The expansion of the Arts Center, which was completed in 2000, added 2,600 square feet of library space; this space also serves as the Hussman Board Room for the Arts Center Board of Trustees, the Arts Center Foundation Board and all of its committees. The day-to-day operations of the expanded library are handled by the part-time librarian.

The Arkansas Arts Center Library is affiliated with the Central Arkansas Library System, through a cooperative agreement that adds the Arts Center book collection to the CALS online computer catalog. As one of the primary art history and art criticism collections in the state, the library continues an active acquisitions program for researchers and scholars.